Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Sakura-con 2016 and what's next.

It's hard to believe that Sakura-con has come and gone when it feels like just yesterday I was sewing for it. Sakura-con 2016 went smoothly, even through we arrived a bit late and weren't able to go on day zero (which really would had helped.) We made the most of our rushed weekend and all three of us enjoyed it. The best part was when our friend mentioned he's interested in going to Kumori-con with us as well as cosplay. It made me happy to know I've inspired someone else to cosplay. I can't wait to see how he does and if he enjoys it like we do.




DAY ONE (FRIDAY)

Day one was a crazy, crazy day that left us all out of breath and very tired. Our friend was running on no sleep, having gotten off work at midnight the night before. By two in the afternoon he had been up for over 24 hours. Although we didn't let our tiredness affect us much. When we arrived in Seattle we checked in our bags at our hotel and rushed out to get our badges. The lines were very long as I think non-prereg people were getting into the wrong lines, causing a bit of a build up. I barely made it on time to the pre-meet. There I got my first glimpse of some of the awesome cosplayers who were judges this year. We quickly set a time and walked out of there, very exhausted from the sudden rush of energy. After this we decided we had to hit the vender's hall.

My theme for this year was obviously Sakura, Cardcaptor as I could not stop buying her cute figures. We shared some good laughs and then hurried to our hotel in the hopes our room opened up early. It did. We got our bags and hurried up to the 9th floor to set up and get ready for judging.

One thing I'm not sure if I've mentioned was I've lost a lot of weight (12-14 pounds) due to my pregnancy and smaller appetite so I had a few problems with Lacie's bodice and the skirt but it was wearable and with the help of some safety pins, all was good. We set off to judging where I realized I really didn't want to be judged. For the first time since I started cosplaying I really didn't want to go on stage, I just wanted to relax. Being pregnant really changed a few things, such as my tolerance to wear wigs or be in cosplay for long periods of time. I just wanted to change and shop.

But we went on with judging and it was a lot of fun to speak to these amazing guests, as I've watched some of them for years now. After judging we rushed back to our hotel room for some fuel and returned to the con. I will admit that the con had a different vibe to it this year. We weren't impressed with most of the guests and there didn't seem to be a lot of cosplayers.


After getting all dressed up in lolita we hit the vender's hall again and after my regretful choice of wearing heels we went back to the hotel and changed, then went out to dinner at Kels.

I am so proud of my Mori themed coord. I've never been good at making outfits match nicely but this was a winner for me. Although I loved my new wig wearing it to the Vender's hall was a bad choice as I became too hot. As was the sweater. Haha...


(Can you spot the slight hint of a baby bump?)







DAY TWO (SATURDAY) 



Day Two was beautiful. I was so glad it didn't rain even through it started to cloud up a bit when we left the hotel to head out to the contest. This was a picture I took from our hotel window on the 9th floor.

Unlike wearing my Mori outfit, Lacie was very comfortable for me. The only probelm was the safety pins on the bodice but after a few attempts I'd re-figure out how to get it to keep the bodice pinned.

We ventured out and I felt great, especailly when Lacie's skirt blew around in the wind. I felt very princess-y.

When we arrived in the back where the contest contestants were waiting I felt very calm and enjoyed watching the others as they got ready.

During the skits I heard a there was a proposal, how romantic was that? I didn't get to see it but I did see pictures and couldn't help but to tear up. We went up on stage near the very end of the journeyman portion. This year they separated each group (Novice, Journeyman, masters) into two sections per group. Example: Individual novice and group novice. Which I really liked. That means there were more awards too.


We didn't win but I really didn't expect to as I had only a month and half to make these cosplays and had lost so much weight due to my pregnancy that the bodice and skirt didn't fit right. But we had fun walking on stage and were so happy to hear everyone cheering for us.

That's the best part of the contest. I will admit I was almost tearing up because this was the last contest by ourselves and it felt weird and emotional without our friend this year. But I was glad I went through with it and got our little moment to shine on stage. That in its self was enough to make me happy.




The best part about day two was our photo-shoot with Black Bettie Cosplay. We have had pictures done with her before and had a blast. So we were pretty excited to see her and her awesome assistant again. They found us a awesome spot and begin the best photo-shoot we had ever had. We not only got to do all the poses I had been dreaming of doing for years with Lacie and Levi but we also had Sakura blossoms fall around us (Thanks to Jamila's friend.) The pictures I saw were the best we've had taken since we started cosplaying. I really cannot wait to post them.


Day two ended with more shopping (it was too fun not to.) and dinner at our favorite German restaurant in a nearby mall. When we retired for the evening (playing Cards Against.) I realized that Sakura-con was over. It went by too fast. Although we weren't as tired as day one, my body had enough. It didn't help that my baby bump had started to form, causing me a lot of discomfort. But over all the weekend was a lot of fun.


Although there were negatives.


NEGATIVES 


  • Not many cosplayers (Where did everyone go?)
  • People were rude and pushy. 
  • Vender's hall had many similar items (Especially plushies.) 
  • Guests were boring. (Let's stick to voice actors and artists/fashion designers, guys!)
  • Day two was crazy crowded
  • Some contest constants should had been bumped up a category.

However, it was nice not to have protesters harassing cosplayers on the street this year. Although our friend was ready to harass them back, lol. Overall the con had its ups and downs but we made memories and had fun during the pros. That's all that matters. Every con will be different for everyone attending. It is what you make of it.



Now you must be wondering what is there to come for us since our baby is due in September. Well, not much until Kumori-con. Yes, we will keep going to conventions. It's our thing as is cosplaying and our baby will join in on the fun too. Equus Cosplay will still do contest but not for a few years as I want to make sure our baby is old enough not to scream on stage. Our next big cosplay for a contest will most likely be Trinity Blood related. But we won't decide for a while as we're still tossing around ideas, either way it'll be big and will take at least two years to build. I want to bead damnit!

We will most likely be going to Kumori-con for a day but are unsure of anything else. However we will 100% will be going to Skaura-con 2017 again. And I'm happy to say no contest for us, we'll be focusing on enjoying the con with a six month old instead. 

Although I am not working on cosplay for the next few months I will be doing other projects such as making things for the baby and quilts. But I won't be posting those on the page as they have nothing to do with cosplay and I want to keep the page clear. This brings me to what else I'll be doing for now on until K-con. 

I will be focusing on writing my novel and getting it ready for publication. This obviously is a lot of work and I want the novel done before our baby is born, which is fairly easy. I've finished novels in a month before and can do so again. If you didn't know I write, I do and you can check out my tumbler for more info on my writing and stuff here Confessions Of A Writing Addict

Cosplay is simply a hobby. A fun one granted but will never be a career for me. Writing is a career that I've been focusing on since the age of 15. I keep pushing it aside to make cosplays so it'll be nice to take a break from cosplaying and focus on what's important. So if your interested in keeping track of my crazy rambles, check out that link above. If not, don't worry about it. 


Thank you guys for the support this year, it meant a lot to see our page lit up with activity, especailly when I felt like giving up. There will be a ton of crazy projects in our future so keep watch of the page. The next projects will be...












Wednesday, March 23, 2016

HoneyColor for the win! (Pre-review)

Why this contact disaster is so bad


Guys! If you didn't see my facebook post, our back up contacts have arrived! Not only before the others but a day early! I am overjoyed. This really made my day and I can't stop smiling. If you haven't read my other post about what happened with our first order (from a different website.) I'll post the link above.

This means we can see! Our eyes will look amazing in photographs!

I'm just really happy. Tomorrow is the last day I'm dealing with the other company before I lose my brain bolts (I'm putting this in a nice way.) They sent me a message the other day saying once again that they have contacted the other shipper and they said they had made contact with USPS. Tomorrow is the day before we leave for Sakura-con and I like to soak the contacts at least a day to get them clean and make them a bit more comfortable. However I was fine with waiting until tomorrow. But it seems the other company has no idea what is going on. I replied wanting to know what "contact" meant and if the package had left Nebraska and was in Oregon yet or not. Never got a reply back.

I'm trying to be nice but tomorrow I will announce the company name and will write a review on what fully happened after con. We're obviously going to push returning the package and have them give us a full refund plus pay for the shipping to ship it back to them.

I still do not know if this was the company's fault or if it was aramex's fault. Either way I paid for 7-14 day shipping and it's 17 days later and still no package. I'm pretty sure it's still in another state. But thank goodness for HoneyColor. I'll do a review for them as well but it won't be until after we get our pictures back from Sakura-con. It could be a few weeks to a month.

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Why this contact disaster is so bad

Note: I will NOT be naming the well known company until I find out if my package comes today and if it does not, if they will refund our $17 dollar shipping costs. 



Contacts ordered: 2/27/16

Contacts shipped: 3/01/16

Total (Without ship): $42.80

Shipping: $17.90

Total: $60.70



Now that all that info is written, I can begin to explain why our contacts coming so late is such a huge problem.  First, Sakura-con is only 8 days away. That's enough for worry right? I have a bigger reason. I cannot see without glasses. Although there is nothing wrong with wearing glasses while cosplaying, I do not enjoy wearing my large framed glasses with long wigs. This is also my one time to be without glasses, something I look forward to. That's why we are willing to spend so much money to make sure our contacts arrive on time.

We order from this site every year since we started cosplaying (minus one year I believe.) and have always chosen a US shipping company. We've had no problems at all. And normally got our package days before it was supposed to arrive. That's why we kept coming back. However this time we chose a company we have never heard of before due to the shipping time (7-14 days.) which was perfect. There would no reason for the package not to arrive before con.

When the company, Aramex begin to update the tracking info I didn't notice anything wrong. Like normal the package was sent out of Asia (Can't say the location as it may give away the company.) and arrived in New York on the 3rd of March. Again, nothing stood out, as this company always sends its packages to NY.

Then I noticed something a bit strange....Instead of being shipped from NY to Oregon, it went down to New Jersey. No big deal, it's close to NY. Maybe they were doing something different. Then it happened....


Illinois. In case you don't know that's pretty far away from Oregon. That was the first red flag. I begin to worry when I saw the notice "Tendered for Delivery." pop up. DELIVERY? My package isn't in Oregon. So I looked up what that phrase meant and it said that it could mean that the company simply handed it over to USPS. So I decided to wait and see if the tracking number would work on USPS site. No, it did not.

On the 10th my worst nightmare happened. Our Package was in Nebraska. Not only was it in the wrong state, but delivery had been attempted and they gave us this message which my heart sink.



Obviously the address was wrong, as its located in another state. So the panic begin. I emailed the shipping company (Never got a reply, nice right?) and the company who sold us the contacts. They replied quickly and conformed it was our package. I was hoping we were simply given the wrong tracking number, but no, this was our's.

What pisses me off is that the shipping company never replied to my plea for help. That it took the contact seller to reply. They said our package would arrive (today) by the latest on March 16th. So far no knocks on my door. I'm going to check the mail and see if anything is in our box. But I highly doubt it.

Whether it was the shipping company fault for changing the address or the contact seller's fault, this could turn out very bad for us as we don't have time to order more contacts and we have to go on stage for the contest. I'm nervous and upset. But I don't want to give the company a bad review until I find out if the package arrives today or not. I'll update again on our facebook page. If it ends badly, there will be another blog, but this time a bad review for the contact seller.

Sorry if I sound horrible, I'm trying to be positive but as you can see, it's hard.



Thursday, March 3, 2016

Big news and our Sakura-con to-do list



Sakura-con was our very first convention. Fresh out of high school Nicolas and I drove up with no cosplays and no expectations. Our cosplays had been ordered but were late. And it didn't stop us from having a blast! I still remember it fondly to this day.

But why am I bringing this up when this blog is labeled "game plan"? Because this is our last convention before Nicolas and I have a baby. I am currently 14 weeks pregnant and we are thrilled about our future mini cosplayer but this con is a lot more than just that, our high school buddy is going to be heading off to boot camp sometime this year and this is his last con for what could be a very long time.

I wanted to make the most out of this convention and obviously that meant cosplaying. I'll be roughly 16 weeks pregnant and should be showing by then which made me nervous about cosplaying. How do I plan a cosplay around a baby bump I don't have yet? The solution is rather simple, a corset backing on the bodice and flats. 

If you follow our page you know we decided to finally cosplay Lacie and Levi from Pandora Hearts. These cosplays are in a way are dedicated to our friend who passed away last July. I've always wanted to cosplay Lacie and Alice together since we had cosplayed Alice and Will and had a blast. Instead I wanted to make sure this cosplay was the best I could possibly make as if I were making it for her. 

Anyway, sorry for sad sappy stuff she's on my mind a lot when I talk cosplay. 


Our Sakura-con game plan isn't very complex like when we had Seth and Abel. Thanks goodness Lacie and Levi have simple outfits. Down below is a list of what still needs to be done. 


Lacie

Bodice 
  • corset backing
  • Ruffle collar (around shoulders)
  • Fabric flower

Skirt
  • Connect front ruffles
  • Make front black ruffles

Choker  (might make this out of ribbon.)

  • Base
  • Bow 
  • Lace trim
  • Attachment clip
Wig
  • Cut bangs


Levi

Shawl
  • Cut a few inches off each side and hem
  • Sew on Trim fringe
Coat  (May switch this with the waistcoat)
  • Draft pattern
  • Buy fabric
  • Sew panels together
  • Sew on trim details
Waistcoat
  • Find and buy pattern
  • Buy fabric
  • Buy white trim
  • Buy gold buttons
  • Sew together
Wig
  • Weft turned into braid to go around the ponytail
  • Braids along the side of the base
  • Bangs styled






Honestly looking at the waistcoat I might just pass on it. There is no way I can get button holes down on time. Because I hate them. Hahaha.....Anyway I'm thinking the coat/cape thing might look cooler for pictures as Levi is often seen wearing that more often than his other outfits. And it owuld be a lot easier to make as I already have muslin to make a pattern. 

Overall I am not too worried about getting both down on time. I do however need to find my petticoat I use often with hoop skirts to hide the bones from showing under the gown's fabric and find the boots we used for Abel. Otherwise the only thing we need to buy are pants and a shirt for Levi and some small and minor make-up products. Our contacts should be here within a few days to a week so everything that needed a long wait time to order has been dealt with. 

I don't know if I mentioned this on the page but we will be arriving on day one, instead of day zero due to our friend's work schedule. The poor guy has to end his shift at midnight and be in the car on the way to Seattle by five in the morning. He's going to be beat. Luckily for us our hotel has safe bag storage so once we arrive and if our room isn't ready we will rush down to get our badges and wait or rush to (depending on when we arrive) to the contest pre-meet. 

Friday will be a busy day. We have judging and a photo-shoot with a lovely photographer we are so excited about working with again. After all that I may be in lolita the rest of the day. There will be lots of shopping and having fun. Hopefully trying new things too. 

Day two is the contest and day three we go home. The weekend will be a ton of fun. I'm glad I was able to get the bulk of our cosplays done especailly since I had been sick during most of it. If you are going to Sakura-con comment on page (on the post I linked this on.) and tell us who your going as to Sak.